I have a pending job offer from XXX to come to teach in XXX as an ALT this coming March.
One of my main concerns will be the start up costs required in Japan. I do not have much savings and by the time I am required to come to Japan, I might only have a little over $3300 Singapore dollars.
That will have to include my one way air ticket, and I reckon I am required to pay rent + a deposit for my apartment, on top of that I need to pay for my transport and food.
I understand that for ALT positions, dispatch companies tend to pay the ALTs salaries at the end of the 2nd month after they commence work. (Though I don’t quite understand what is the rationale behind this practice)
My greatest worry then is that I have not enough money to tide over til I get my first paycheck.
I like to seek your advice, with your understanding from your own experience and what you might know from meeting other gaijins in Japan. about minimum start up costs in Japan.
In the event that I have insufficient money, will I be refused the job offer?
I understand Interac offers loans to potential ALTs but I don’t know if XXX will do the same.
XXX is a shady company with a lot of negative publicity and they have not been responsive to answering my emails, so I am forced to ask around. I don’t know any other Singaporean ALT working in Japan other than you, so I will like to ask if you can provide some advice to a fellow Singaporean.
Thank you and I forward to hear from you soon.
The above query was posted to me by SH. Company names and location have been censored for privacy protection purposes.
Hi SH,
It seems that you have done your bit of research on salary payments by dispatch companies. Interestingly, it is not rare for companies here to give a delayed payment instead of an advanced payment like in Singapore (albeit just a few days in advance).
Unfortunately, I don’t know if companies can deny you work based on your financial status. But let’s look at your situation below.
$3,300 would give you about 300,000 yen at the current exchange rate. But considering the one-way air ticket, which can differ greatly depending on the airline you take, I would think it’s not enough, especially if the company doesn’t pay you for most of the first two months. Conservatively, setting aside $1,000 for the air ticket, you would be left with $2,300. That would be around 200,000 yen.
The start-up costs of an average apartment at the 50,000 yen range, including cleaning, sterilization, agent fee, deposit, key money (if any), etc. would come up to around 180,000 yen, if not more. That would leave you with only 20,000 yen to survive for almost two months. It’s barely enough for transportation, let alone food. Bear in mind that does not include utilities. Further, most apartments are not furnished, so your house will be empty, although you can request for furnished apartments.
If you scrimp and save and cook your own meals everyday, you would require around $1,000 for two months on food alone. Transportation depends on where you live and where you commute to, so I can’t comment on that.
With a furnished apartment, I would suggest at least 500,000 yen as the bare minimum to tide you through till your first paycheck.
Regarding housing rental. Agents typically work like this: If you start renting on the first of the month, you just have to pay one month’s rent in advance. However, if you start on any other date, you would have to pay the pro-rated rent for that month + the full rent of the following month in advance.
Nomad, a new housing agent, seems to be getting popular recently as they do not charge agent fees, but I’ve never used them nor do I know anyone who have used them before, so I don’t know if there’s any catch. No harm doing more research on them though.
Hope this helps.
3300sgd is no problem at all from my point of view. I survive on 4k+ over 3 months with some shopping (but I was paying almost zero rent)
The key is:
1. Do you need to buy extra clothes? (For winter, presentations, etc)
2. Do you mind a share house or dorm? These can be as low as 30,000yen a month from sakura house with all your bills (water, gas, electricity, internet) included. Furniture and appluances all provided
3. For cooking, you have to buy stuff from the supermarket. A meal can cost as low
as 200 yen. 108 yen at my neighbourhood supermarket gets me 3 servings (300g) of pasta. Meat sauce for 2 servings is anothrr 108 yen. Get some pasty miso thing, some seaweed and beancurd, and you can easily make your own somewhat balanced at a very low cost.
I have a lot more suggestions that I have personally done. Am at work right now and just typing this out quickly.
You do not need to pay the rubbish admin fees and key money etc if you search in the right places.
And I took malaysia airlines. 30kg baggage allowance. Only ~350sgd for the one way ticket.
Thanks Victor!
That’s a really helpful second opinion. SH, if you’re reading this, do contact Victor as he may be able to give you better advice on spending your first couple of months with a budget of $3,300.
Yea, I am/was the budget king. Feel free to ask. Haha.
These days I rather have comfort over savings though. Washing the dishes is still a real pain even though I get hot water from the tap… But when I think about nutrition the selection of outside food becomes rather limited. Its mostly saizeriya when I was on a mid-budget. Shrimp salad for 299, drink bar for 189, and the spinach gratin for another 299 if budget allows. All tax included.
Anyways, SH should just come if he is really interested in working here. After his visa is confirmed that is. If things don’t work out at that company, could always search for a another one. Would be so much easier with the visa…
Just have to keep a buffer for whatever exit plans you have. It will be tight but still fairly doable imo.
Hi this is SH here.
Thanks Gaijinhan for making a thread about it, and taking the effort to hide my identity of myself and my dispatch company.
First about the part of my start up costs. Actually I had wanted to work temp for 3-4 mths or so to save up.
I basically got played by a school who promised to hire me but said they need to conduct some clearance check, yet kept dragging the thing for 1 month until they said they are not hiring anymore. You cant imagine how pissed off I am with the school for wasting 1 month of my precious time. ちくしょう~~~
Right now I am still desperately seeking work from now til end march, but I wont be able to save enough. It is extremely hard to find work in Singapore, much less say any that pays decent. And for one that needs work urgently, you cannot imagine how humbling you can be in the list of job choices you are considering to do. 悲しいな・・
At this moment, I am exploring working 12 hr shifts as a quality checker for the full months of Feb and March. If I work 6 days throughout both months, I should be able to save up quite a substantial amount in the short term.
Worse comes to worst, I may have to resort to seeking out a moneylender and taking a unsecured loan, with high interest rates though.
My dispatch company has replied to me and they do not offer loans. Actually they haven’t offered me the official contract yet cos they are seemingly still waiting for ‘instructions from the BOE’.
I may not have a job after all if they do not win the bid from the BOE’s tender. Honestly I don’t know how it works. If a dispatch company don’t win a bid, that mean they don’t get any business for the entire year?
Victor is spot on. The work visa is exactly what that I am aiming for. Interest of working in Japan aside, I am sick of life in Singapore. I hope to start a new life in Japan and I don’t ever wish to return. 全然帰りたくない。
I don’t think I have a choice in accommodation but take what the dispatch company allocates for me, because by the time they offer me the contract, I will have to be in Japan in lesser than a month, I wont be able to find anything different in the nick of time. しょうがない。
But do any of you know, whether there is any 契約 for apartments? Will there be any minimum commitment period you have to stay in company accommodation before you can move out?
I read horror stories of ex-ALTs of my dispatch company being allocated apartments really far away from the school they teach. They have to be at a certain bus stop everyday at a particular time. Should they miss the bus, they will have to wait at least another 1.5 hours before the next bus comes. So they end up inevitably late and that gives the company an excuse to dock their pay. I duno if this will happen to me.
I also read that the company accommodations, the company tends to jack up the rental so as to profit more from the ALTs. If you do a search of my dispatch company, you can only come up with negative publicity about them. They are notoriously known to be a shady company and I am expecting for them to screw me one way or the other. I will be seeking employment elsewhere as soon as I can.
I am really grateful for all your suggestions. You know we should set up a kind of a Singaporeans in Japan portal or something so we provide adequate advice for Singaporeans who intend to make it in Japan.
Gaijinhan, your thread on teaching in Japan has really inspired me a lot. It is about the only source on the internet on how can a Singaporean manage to get work as an ALT in Japan. However, I felt that the information you shared wasn’t detailed enough and I wish to do up a blog of my own, expand on what you wrote and give my insights on it.
Actually we share similar names, I wanted to call myself Gaijinhan too, but too bad you already patterned it.
Coming Monday I will be seeing a job agent about the Quality Checker post and she said she can get me started on the job immediately. I will update you guys again on the status of it.
では、また来週 ~~
Hi SH,
Do you mind sharing your age and experience? I see some really strong opinions in your comment and don’t know what to make of it without context. Of course, I am in no position to judge…
Anyways, you should focus on the visa. Get it while you’re still in Singapore. I came to Japan last year with my own savings and no visa looking for a job. I consider myself fairly fluent in the languages I speak, and am confident I had what it takes for the jobs I interviewed for. However, reality is harsh. I had no “real experience” working and living in Japan, and I did not have a visa. These factors left many doors closed to me even though I kept knocking. I don’t wish you to end up like me, especially since you seem quite tight on budget.
Hope you won’t do anything rash just because you dislike (?) Singapore. There are more humbling things out there than taking up part-time jobs that you may never have previously thought of.
The first thing I can think of is for you to brush up on your English. I know this is being a little too blunt, but this is probably one of the reasons you’re finding it hard to land a ALT role with a decent company. The good thing is that you can do something about it (if you don’t feel its too beneath you).
Good luck.
Hi Victor,
I will not go into detail since it is solely personal. Besides, my purpose here is to seek advice on my pending trip to Japan. This is also Gaijinhan’s blog, not mine. Its not an appropriate place to talk about it. In Chinese we call it, 喧宾夺主。
But generally speaking, if you just look around, there are tonnes of people who are unhappy living in Singapore, not just me. So now I have the chance to go someplace else and live my life happier and be at peace, nobody has the right to fault me on that. This is not something rash because I have been planning this for some time now.
About the temp job, I hope I will be able to commence on the Quality Checker position I will be going for this coming Monday. This is a 12 hour shift position which pays $8 an hour, double on rest days. So if I commit the whole of February and half of March period, I should be able to save up more than enough for my trip to Japan in this relative short time.
I will never just go blindly to a foreign country and go seek work without a proper work visa. Many countries practise a closed door policy and Japan is one of them. But I am curious to know if you did find a job eventually in Japan, do share your experience, it will be interesting to know.
Lastly, I’m sorry that I don’t quite understand why you are commenting on my English proficiency. Number one, this is a blog comment and not a university thesis I am writing, I have no need to write everything in perfect English.
Number two, It doesn’t seem right for you to make an assumption based on what I write here in conjunction with my job offer from the dispatch company. You seem to be implying that my standard is bad, that’s why I only managed to get a job with a bad company, or the company has no standards, that’s why they only take in lousy candidates like myself. This is something I might take offense with.
I have to say that you weren’t writing in tip top Victorian English either, so I don’t think you are of the stand point to find fault with my linguistic ability. Since you like to blunt, forgive me if I am brutally honest as well.
Number 3, I have an A for my O level English and I have a Diploma in TESOL as well. I am perfectly confident in my language skills. It may not be perfect but it is sufficient to coach Japanese children. I don’t have to be Shakespeare to get hired.
Anyway, no dispatch company will be dumb enough to hire a person with poor English just in case they screw up and cause the BOE to lose confidence in their services.
Number 4, the reason you are making the above comment shows that you do not have a very clear comprehension of the hiring process and preferences for ALTs.
Should I make it in Japan in the future, I shall be writing a blog specifically on getting work as an ALT, and this is the one of the main points I will focus on:
Although Singapore is a generally English speaking country, we as Singaporeans are not considered as native English speakers.
There is a very prevalent biasness towards native and non-native speakers in the ALT industry. This is particularly apparent in places like Korea and Taiwan, where they only teachers holding passports from certain countries.
There is a very strong preference for native English speakers when dispatch companies conduct their recruitment. Non native English teachers face a lot of discrimination from this.
Second, very few dispatch companies actually do hiring remotely. Only a handful will conduct interviews through the net. Most dispatch companies either want you to be already in Japan, or proceed for face-to-face interview sessions conducted only at selected locations. Applying a work visa for a foreigner is a long and tedious process, very few companies are willing to do it. This is also the main reason why you were unable to find work in Japan.
Thirdly, many dispatch companies want teachers who hold an international driving license. Because there are many rural teaching locations where traffic is not so developed, they prefer teachers who are able to drive to work at these remote locations.
So as you can see, the above 3 factors already make things very difficult for an aspiring individual who wants to work in Japan as an ALT. Therefore for me, a non native English speaker, a foreigner who does not hold a driving license, to be able to get a job offer to work in Japan, I already consider it as an accomplishment.
About news of my dispatch company being a shady one, I am only relating information I read on the internet. Whether it is 100% true or not, I will have to be physically in Japan and work for the company first before I can come with a true conclusion. Even if that is the case, what matters to me is the work visa. As you said, even the company is sucky, you can still quit and find work elsewhere, so I am not worried.
Right now I am almost at the finish line. Just my visa and start up costs to clear.
So if I do succeed to make a living in Japan, I will be very proud of myself. Because I cleared many obstacles to reach my goal. This is what we Chinese call 苦尽甘来.
I already made a disclaimer in the third sentence of my comment. It is not to judge but just to understand. It is fine if you do not want to share. I apologize for asking. I feel that there was no need for you to get so defensive.
苦尽甘来 indeed I have a satisfying job here in Tokyo with several perks and opportunities after hundreds of applications, tens of rejections, demoralising talkdowns from agents and potential employers alike, and sacrificing my good-paying job back in Singapore and taking up alot of costs on my own. The only financial worry I have though, is whether I am saving enough to compensate giving up CPF savings and its very good interest rates.
I am obviously not an ALT and have also never claimed that I know the hiring process for ALTs. I have my own blog that is long due for an update but I have shared a little on the hiring process of non-ALTs. Anyways, I only came back to wordpress when I was clearing “social” email and saw that this blog was updated.
I have a lot of friends back in Singapore who are unhappy about their situations. Its hard to imagine how most of them will be happier if they were living in a different country. I had many opportunities for business trips to Japan and have stayed more than 2 months in Japan previously for work, and felt more “clued in”. I came here for exposure, not happiness (although I am quite happy actually). If you think I can help you with budgeting or anything to help you find your happiness here, you are free to contact me personally. Just don’t get too hurt when I get blunt.
Hi SH and Victor,
Pardon me for butting in. This is not too related to the topic that you two are discussing, but I feel like I really want to thank both of you. Reason being that I like how this discussion is going. Despite some differences in opinion, I feel that both of you are very respectful of each other and talk like true gentlemen. I hope I don’t sound like I am talking as if I am holier-than-thou because that is not my intention. And just in case I do sound like that, please accept my apologies.
To be frank, I sometimes get people calling each other names on the blog comments. I try not to approve the comments if they get too offensive, which is why I tend to get worried when arguments start, but I really admire how you two are taking and handling each other’s opinions.
Respect.
* Note: I don’t mind if you two keep using this to discuss if you don’t mind either, since I started this in a hope to offer something to people. And if my knowledge is not enough, I definitely welcome those with more useful experiences to contribute.
I’m just trying to help, and I’m used to people misunderstanding (?) me anyways. So you won’t see my calling names.
Bottom line is, it is definitely possible to live on SGD3300 for 2 months.
Air ticket: SGD350
Transport: JPY20,000*2 = SGD 460 (conservative estimate, personally I spend on JPY13,000 a month for commuting to and fro work. My transport is covered by the company and you may want to find out if said shady company does too)
Cooking: JPY200*2*30*2 = SGD 280
Eat out?: JPY700*30*2 = SGD 480
Rent: JPY50,000*2 = SGD 1,200 (rent for fresh grad engineers in company’s accomodation is only around JPY20,000 in Osaka and less developed places so this is a very conservative estimate on the high side)
Bills: JPY10,000*2 = SGD230 (may not have to pay at dorms. water and gas usage is high if you cook a fair bit. but fight the temptation to soak in the bath tub and you should be fine)
Data SIM card: JPY3,600*2 = SGD 85
That makes it a total of SGD 3,085 to come to and survive in Japan for 2 months. You have SGD 215 left which you may spend on socialising. Further cost cutting can be done if you eat out at joints like 松屋, すき屋, and なか卯 etc for ~JPY500 each time instead. You can save on data SIM card cost if accommodation has free Wi-Fi and you don’t mind going out without internet connection.
Dear Victor,
I do apologize if I sounded rude to you. I do admit I was a little defensive. But I meant no offense, please do not take it to heart.
Its not that I do not want to share my personal history. But I am a very private person and this is Gaijinhan’s blog. I do not want to discuss things that are off topic and overtake his blog.
Also, some of my opinions and thoughts may be too extreme, its tough to share those stuff. I only shared them with my ex girlfriend, because she was the one close enough to me then for me to trust her. I do seek your understanding in this, I probably will share more when we get to know each other better.
Actually I do appreciate your bluntness. Because only those who truly want to help you will say the honest stuff.
In fact, I think as Singaporeans overseas, the more we should help one another. I think both of your stories are truly inspiring for Singaporeans who like to follow in your foot steps.
To be honest, my reasons for coming to Japan is not because I have some wild, unrealistic fantasies about Japan. Rather, I see it as a place for me to build a new life for myself.
I’m sure there will be many challenges and things may not work out as well as I thought they would. But I think even if its tough, I will make the best out of it. I won’t ever regret this decision of mine.
Right now I pray that I will be hired for the position I am going for on Monday. I foresee that it will be tough, manual work I have to do for 12 hours straight everyday. But as long as it is for a new life in a new place, I think no matter how tough it is, it is still worth it.
Don’t worry about it. I have seen enough extreme opinions to be less sensitive. If I really can’t accept it, at the very most I’ll just walk away.
Manual labor IMO is great experience actually. Even as project engineer/manager, I have attached exhaust pipes myself, crawled ceiling spaces 3 metres high, carried and threw random garbage for customers, soldered and glued stuff myself to show as examples to factory workers, and lately worked in cold warehouses in midwinter carrying/packing/labeling equipment for shipping. I feel that they have all made it easier for me to “climb up” in many indirect ways.
初心を忘れないように。
All the best.
Hi. I don’t know you at all. But after reading about what you did to make a living in Japan, you get a bit of my respect.
Hi Sumgai, I’m flattered. There are alot more people out there who have overcomed tougher situations to get to where they are. Its only when I actually do it myself that I really understood what most foreigners face in Singapore. Most of us are just doing what we can to achieve what we want. Its not that special at all if you look at it that way.
UPDATE:
Dear all,
I’ve found a job at Resort’s World Sentosa through an agency as a Food & Beverages server. This is the best temp position I am able to find that pays the highest rates in this relative short period of time I have. It also reminds me of how humbling a person have to be when one needs to earn money. Whether you are a degree holder or not simply means nothing. Dignity has no value whatsoever.
I am unable to proceed on the Quality Checker position because the company is picky about me having a ligament injury I sustained when I was in NS. Even when I clarified that this is only a minor sprain, I have since recovered and I did not need any surgery for it, the company still decided not to hire me.
That is also why I don’t like about Singapore employers. They are just too picky. There are times when you go for interviews, even when you satisfy for most of the job requirements, and there is a slight skill component you might be lacking, they are still unwilling to take you in. Yet the irony is that, you find many foreigners who obviously do not possess the skill set for the job, they still get hired most probably because they are cheap.
The job agency has recommended me other warehouse positions but honestly those locations are far, I have to leave my house very early to reach the company transport on time, the pay rates are low and work environment is going to be hot, dirty and uncomfortable. So in comparison, the Resorts World position has a much better work environment.
I will be starting work this Sunday and I will be working all days (including CNY) up til the very week I will fly to Japan. Technically speaking, if I do it this way, I should be able to accumulate enough earnings to tide over my first 2 months in Japan. They also have extra banquet server work I can take up to earn even more, but I decided not to take it up because you need to remember a lot of small details, such as available items on the menu, dish and glass placements, how to portion food, debone fish, you will need to serve expensive dishes and you have to know how to carry them / serve, display them in a certain way. The agency has to give training on that, but because they lack space, time & manpower, they only gave us a very brief training at an obscure corner in their office. The short crash course just is not enough for you to have the confidence in assuming this role effectively, I am afraid if you screw up, you might be asked to compensate for the dishes. The pay is not too much either. So I think its wiser to just play it safe. In comparison, the casino position is more straight forward and there is nothing to remember.
Anyway, the downside is that the agency has a very funny salary payment scheme. They do not do bank ins, you are supposed to come down to their branch and during their payroll cycle every 2 weeks to collect your salary for the earlier fortnight you have worked for. This is just troublesome and it also mean that by the time I have to fly to Japan next month, I will not be able to receive my March salary because the pay cycle dates are not due then.
I am now asking the company if they can make an arrangement to disburse my salary to me earlier. If I request them to bank in for me, they will charge me an admin fee for it, and since they only make payment once every 2 weeks, that will mean I may have to pay this admin fee twice for March’s salary. I’m pretty sure their own employees do not get cash payouts every month and they bank in their salaries for them. So I cannot understand why is it so hard to just do it for me too? And wanting to charge me a fee for this, that is just cheap.
And there will also be administration fees incurred if you are to make ATM withdrawals from overseas bank accounts. The foreign exchange rate from banks are not impressive either, I stand to lose out a good amount if that is the only option available for me.
It is gonna suck if I have to go to Japan without getting my March salary and having to wait one week there before the agency to credit it in. I will be screwed if the agency somehow does not bank it in.
I don’t know for the start up costs, especially the key and admin fee, do you have to pay it immediately as soon as you land in Japan, or they can allow me a few days to wait until I receive my March salary.
Those who know, please advice.
Thanks.
I’m glad you found a part time job.
Key and admin fee? You mean for your apartment? What did the employer say about your accomodation?
Recently I have been talking a lot to property agents (getting driven around by them is the best part yet) and might be able to help you since I have somewhat updated info. If you’re going to stay in Tokyo (?), you will have a somewhat easier time looking for a place though.
Anyways, there is a “inspection period” that usually takes 2 weeks for property leases and such transactions. If the property agency does not require you to pay any fees for the “simple” application, that means you have about 2 weeks after deciding. When they let you know that your application is successful, they will send an invoice at the same time.
What you really need first though is a trustworthy and candid agent. Someone who will fight for you to get the business. Its disappointing how few and far between such salss people are these days.
Thanks Victor for the reply.
I am now working part time for Resorts World Sentosa Casino. Essentially I am a drinks / food server, but my role is more aptly thought of as a general helper. There is no fixed location in the casino where you are working in. But rather, they assign workers to different spots in the casino for every shift.
This means you do not get any regularity in the work you do, you need to constantly remember new things, which is what I don’t like. Also, veteran workers there tend to duck away from the tougher posts / areas and part time people like myself get arrowed the shit most of the time.
The work I’m required to do are the most menial of tasks and I have to say this is among the most humbling experience of my life. In one shift, I was assigned to push a 60kg drink cart along a casino zone. This is extremely physical demanding work cos you not only need to strain to push a cart of such weight, you also have to maneuver your way along the casino furniture where customers are gambling, making sure that you do not hit any of the seated customers and not spilling any drinks on them.
Because customers pay good money to gamble there, naturally they have bossy attitudes and you have to take unreasonable shit from time to time. Theres just no incentive for you to do better, because any tips awarded by the customer does not go to you, but you need to put it in a tips container and it goes to the casino. You only get a flat rate for the hours you worked, and anyone caught pocketing tips are terminated immediately. That’s just despicable on the casino’s part, IMHO.
Throughout my work here in the casino, all day I’ve been asking myself a single word. Why?
Why is it that as a degree holder with credentials and work experience, I am reduced to working as a food / drinks server?
Its a total irony when I am technically the most qualified person there, doing the most laborious tasks while god-knows-what-qualifications-they-hold, or how the hell they got here foreigners are working as dealers, sitting on their cushy chairs and looking at me with disdain in their eyes. I was thoroughly sick to the gut while I am ordered around to do work by a PRC in his typical Chinese accent.
I will have to slog through a ten day, 8.5 hours shift all the way during the CNY period. And after all these tough work, all I am able to net for this period of February is nothing more than $1,300 (after CPF deductions). That pathetic sum and it is already the best paying one I can find for the month. That’s utterly miserable.
Am I really incomparable to these foreign workers? Do they possess skill sets that are that valuable? Or do I suck so much that I have to do the shitty work?
The answer is obviously No, because if so, how is it that I am able secure my job offer in Japan then?
I wouldn’t even have to be doing this work had I not been screwed by a government affiliated school who promised to hire me, but backtracked on the decision after putting me on a one month long wait. There are also employers who are downright picky over hiring just for a temp position. I do not understand why are employers that damn selective when they are only hiring for a short term and they are paying merely a hourly rate for it.
The real problem here is the Singapore system. It has caused a lot of imbalance/ inequality and unfairness between Singaporeans and foreigners here. All these are push factors for locals like myself to leave the country in search for greener pastures.
One can argue that you will be looked upon as a second class citizen overseas. Certainly yes, but that is only to be expected when you are a gaijin in a foreign country. Not in Singapore. Yet, in our home country, we do not have any exceeding advantage as a citizen, there is just no security for anyone anymore. So what difference does it make if I remain in Singapore, compared to working overseas?
It may seem that I am ranting, but I am actually highlighting a very real problem that Singaporeans face. Our govt has been ignoring a lot of the problems in the country and their unwillingness to take the concrete steps to rectify these issues will cost them dearly.
Anyway Victor, I am appreciative of the information you shared about housing, but I’m afraid it is inapplicable for me at this point. I have no choice but to take up accommodation provided by my dispatch company simply because there is no time available for me to make any choices; especially when my contract will only be given shortly before I am required to be in Japan.